2009 Mas de Libian Côtes du Rhône Bout d’Zan

2009 Mas de Libian Côtes du Rhône Bout d’Zan

I’ve been on the hunt for inexpensive, flavorful 2009 Rhône wines as of late. I keep hearing that this is an excellent vintage and already we’ve been delighted with the St. Cosme Côtes du Rhône, Domaine de la Becassone Côtes du Rhône blanc and the Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône “Les Sablières.” Since you can never really get enough of a good thing, I keep looking.

And so by chance I discovered a bottle of this delightful 2009 Mas de Libian Côtes du Rhône Bout d’Zan at my local wine shop. I was not familiar with this wine before and almost passed it by as I had trouble reading the curious script on the label. Was this a Rhône wine or not? Hegui would have had a mini hissy-fit if I accidentally brought home another bottle of cheap pinot noir, or worse, cheap Bordeaux. (Well I knew that it wasn’t Bordeaux for the shape of the bottle. At least I’ve got that going for me.)

Mas de Libian has been owned and operated by the Thibon family since 1670. I just love writing that: 1670. That’s a long time. Jean-Pierre, whose childhood nickname has become the name for this particular labeling, had three daughters, some of whom seem to have taken over winemaking duties. The “black sheep,” Cécile lives in Bordeaux, where she works as an oenological researcher. It was funny to read the parenthetical comment “noboby’s perfect” in reference to C. Can it really be true that the French don’t appreciate Bordeaux wines?

Anyway, the site also explains that “zan” is the name for a traditional French licorice candy that comes in little bits or “bouts.” Jean–Pierre earned the moniker as he was small with deeply tanned skin as a kid. The winemaker thinks that the wine tastes a bit like licorice, too, though we don’t at all.

2009 Mas de Libian Côtes du Rhône Bout d’Zan: 80% Grenache, 20% syrah. This wine is an opaque purple black color that stains the glass. It has a bloody nose fragrant with the smells of tilled earth and scorched brick. This is medium to full bodied with enough tannin that it could probably be aged for a few years. We’re going to buy more and see for ourselves. We tasted red fruit, leather, tar, mineral and chocolate on the long finish. This is a dramatic and intense wine that is worth looking for, esp. as it comes in at about $15 a bottle.